Monday, May 14, 2007

Fablehaven: Rise Of The Evening Star by Brandon Mull


Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star is Book 2 in the wonderfully magical Fablehaven series. I loved it! Even better than the first one in my opinion. For those who haven't read the first one, Fablehaven is the name of a refuge for mythical and magical creatures. It is one of five such preserves in the world. Fablehaven is owned by the grandparents of Seth and Kendra, our two main characters. Common characters in the books are fairies, brownies, naiads, trolls, imps, golems, and satyrs. Great fun!

This second book in the series poses a threat to Fablehaven. Each of the five magical preserves in the world holds a unique artifact with a magical power. The location of the artifact is kept secret even from caretakers of the preserve. If all 5 artifacts were found and united, they could be combined to unlock a prison that holds demons, devils, and monsters that are unimaginable and could quite literally bring about the end of the world. The Society of the Evening Star is after these artifacts.

Trouble is breaking loose when a strange new student arrives at Seth and Kendra's school. To keep them safe, Seth and Kendra's grandparents decided to have them spend the summer at Fablehaven and tell their parents that they could use the help around the house as an excuse. After all, there's a giant frog trying to eat Seth...how would you explain that one to mom?! When Seth and Kendra arrive after facing some strange circumstances, they find that help has been called in to Fablehaven. Three new faces are there: A potions master, a relics collector, and a magical critter collector. It soon becomes obvious that there's a traitor among the crowd. But who could it be? And how much damage could they cause?

This volume has ten times the magic and adventure of the first one. It was so much fun and I caught myself holding my breath at times. Seth gets himself into trouble as usual and Kendra has acquired some pretty cool abilities. There's tons of new creatures introduced in this book and it all climaxes into an amazing scene of magic and puzzelry! And the ending just leaves you dying for more. And it's coming in 2008.

Mull's writing is wonderful. Perfect for kids and yet perfectly enjoyable for adults as well. I didn't want this one to end at all. One of my favorite reads of the year so far. He also announces at the end of the book that he has another new non-Fablehaven book coming out in the Fall called The Candy Shop War. Looking forward to that one as well.

Brandon Mull is a promising author and I'm really looking forward to what this guy does with his career. This series will be the perfect one to get into with Harry Potter ending in July.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds good! Have popped the first book on my list. :)

DesLily said...

Ohh good! As you know Fablehaven is among my "to read" books.. I had ordered the second book from amazon but even though it showed "in stock" they had me down for delivery in July! So I cancelled it. I'll find somewhere else to get it. I try to group books so i don't have to pay shipping.
Sure glad this one is so good. I'm really enjoying some of the young adult authors! (i love cornelia funke and angie sage!)

Ana S. said...

I'd never heard of this series, but it surely sounds interesting.

chrisa511 said...

It's great Quix, you'd like it...it's hard to put this one down.

Delily, I was so happy to see that you bough the first one! Can't wait to see what you thought of it. It's great!

Nymeth, It's really great. I heard of it through Orson Scott Card and got hooked after the first book. That's the only bummer about getting hooked early on in a series. You have to wait for the books to come out :(

DesLily said...

Chris: oh fersure! I can't believe I am waiting on the third book for Inkheart..grrrr.. and the 2nd book from Runes of the Earth! It drives me insane!
Oh, and of course Harry Potter and book 2 of Lost Chronicles (Margaret Weis) ARGH! I'm 63! I don't have time to wait!!!!!

I remember when I was much younger I read Lord Fouls Bane in paperback and loved it.. I went and bought it in hardback and book 2 of the series in hardback... then proceeded to WAIT for book 3 to read them all at once!! It took 14 more months for book 3 to come out! I read the inside of the dustcovers until I think I memorized it!! (never again! lol)

chrisa511 said...

Oh Deslily! You have plenty of time! :p But isn't it just a pain to wait and wait for books to come out. Can't stand that.

jenclair said...

And another one to add! This series does sound good!

chrisa511 said...

It's great Jenclair. I think this one would fit nicely with your taste in books!

Framed said...

While I like the first Fablehaven, I wasn't sure I wanted to get into the whole series. But your review convinces me that I should. I got a flyer from Deseret Books so if Amazon is out, Deslily could try there. Now I'm excited because I really did like the two children in Fablehaven.

chrisa511 said...

Framed, I loved this book. It's such a quick read...well worth it. Fun little series :)